Hybrid Bicycles - Vittoria Randonneur Pro

How good are the Vittoria Randonneur Pro tires in comparison with other brands? These came on my Coda Sport and I'm wondering if this is a tire that can hold up to gravel roads, loose or packed, or is this mainly built for the road?

I've got the cyclocross variant of this tire and am very happy with it. I've got about 900 miles on them and they still look new. I've also used them on rail trails with lots of rocky ballast and they hold up great. While it's primarily a road tire, I think you'll be fine on gravel roads too.

I have Randonneur Pro tires on two of our bikes. One of my favorite tires for commuting, which is how I spend most of my cycling time. I've used them on packed gravel with good results, but I haven't spent much time on loose gravel. One set of Randos has been in use for one year, and still have yet to flat. I have pulled numerous sand burr stickers out of the rubber, but they were not able to get past the puncture resistant barrier in the tires.

I've got the basic Randonneur's on my Coda Sport and they handle "packed dirt" very well but IMHO, there not up to "loose" dirt, the punchture resistence is excellent, almost 1500 miles and only ONE flat and we are plaqued by Goat Head Thorns here in So. Colorado.

I have the regular Randonneurs (700 X 32s) on my Aurora and they have been awesome. (After riding over broken glass last year, I was certain I'd get a flat. They pulled through just fine.)

They do well on packed dirt, but were a bit squirrelly in loose sand-as I would expect. Wider tires would probably handle loose gravel /sand more efficiently. (YMMV)

When it's time to replace tires, I will certainly buy Randonneurs again. They ride nicely and are tough.

My wife has 700 X 28 (regular Randonneurs, same as Pros but with wire bead) and loves commuting on them. I've ridden the same on packed forest service roads and they got a bit squirrely in corners. Could be they are too narrow, could be they don't have enough tread on them. But if you want trails, I'd go a bit more aggressive on the tread. My wife liked the Randonneur Cross in 35, but they are a bit heavy - I'd go Cross Pro to do it all over again.

I have the 38mm Randonneur Hypers on my bike and they handle loose dirt and gravel quite well if it is flat. The dirt/gravel trails that I ride are old rail right-of-ways so the grades seldom (well never in Illinois) exceed 2%. If you do a lot of riding on steep, loose surfaces you might need something knobby. If not they are plenty good enough to ride till they wear out.

Ken

Oh, and if you haven't read about it already, the Randonneurs have classic "undersize" syndrome to appear lighter. My 28s are actually 25s, the 35s are 32s. It's hard to tell, however, I think the black walls make them seem bigger (I'm used to traditional skin-wall tires), and the weight certainly adds to the illusion.

Follow-up report: My wife rode her Randonneurs over about 75 miles of forest service and rural farm roads for the Cino Heroica and she didn't flat once. Over 9000 total vertical feet during the two-day ride over often very rocky roads. Short of riding the Paris-Roubaix, I'm not sure what would be tougher on "commuter" tires. Granted, she's not as agressive as I am on descents, but still. My old IRC Road Winner II's didn't fair quite as well...

Randonneur Pros are still my favorite commuting tires. Still using them on two of my bikes. My main commuter bike gets about 400 miles per month, and has a 3 speed Sturmey Archer hub. Flats take longer to fix with this setup, so good puncture resistance is very important for me. I have yet to flat on any of my Rando tires.

I have the 38mm Randonneur Hypers on my bike and they handle loose dirt and gravel quite well if it is flat. The dirt/gravel trails that I ride are old rail right-of-ways so the grades seldom (well never in Illinois) exceed 2%. If you do a lot of riding on steep, loose surfaces you might need something knobby. If not they are plenty good enough to ride till they wear out.

Ken

+1

Great results and no flats with the both 32mm and 38mm Randonneur Hypers. Great tires on midwestern gravel trails.


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apparently the Randonneur Hyper has been discontinued with another tire taking its place.

apparently the Randonneur Hyper has been discontinued with another tire taking its place.

It's just been renamed with a new market position as a touring tire. The new name is Voyager Hyper. See page 43 of the 2013 catalog: http://issuu.com/catalogue_online/docs/120822143959-82eca3e5a5d84f5798bf0fd21355a32d?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage

I ran a pair of 700/28's on a coda back in 06...... got 4 flats in a month.... could not change them our fast enough.... also they had no grip on wet streets ....

I've run Rando Pros in 32, and they are great tires. I can't imagine what you would change to for an 'upgrade'.